The use of tone and probe systems for tracing network and communications cables is well known in the art. By way of example, existing tone and probe systems are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,242,178, 5,457,441, 5,574,769, 5,577,009, 5,703,928, 5,909,113, 6,707,305, 6,798,183, 6,946,850, 7,026,803, 7,026,803, 7,116,093, 7,598,721, and D512333, each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
As described in these references, existing systems use a tone generator that generates an electrical signal either at an audible frequency or a higher frequency and with or without some form of modulation designed to carry information. This signal emanates from a connector on the tone generator 1 as shown in FIG. 1. The signal is coupled onto a cable 4 that is to be traced via an intermediate cable 2 that is connected between the tone generator 1 and a connector 3 that is positioned at one end of the cable 4 to be tested. A hand held probe 6 is then used to find the other end of the cable 4 by attempting to receive the applied signal at one or more connections on a patch panel 5. When the tone signal is received by the probe 6, following signal processing and amplification, the received tone is presented to the operator by the probe 6 as an audible and or visual display of signal strength. The cable 4 that the user is attempting to trace can then be identified as being the cable that is terminated at the socket presenting the highest signal strength when the probe 6 is coupled to each of the multiple sockets of the patch panel 5.
Once the cable of interest is located, the next operation in the test sequence requires the tone generator 1 and the intermediate cable 2 to be disconnected and replaced with one part of a LAN tester 6A as shown in FIG. 2. The LAN tester 6A is connected via use of test adaptor and a special patch cable 9 as further shown in FIG. 2. The other part of the LAN tester 6B is then connected by a second test adaptor and another special patch cable 9 to the socket in the patch panel 5 identified in the first steps described above. In this manner, the complete circuit may now be tested by the pair of LAN Testers as required.
While such a system does work for its intended purpose, the following describes an improved system and method for using a connector at the end of a cable as a cable locating sensor.